The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the world's most famous construction mistake. The architect, Bonanno Pisano,found his bell tower starting to lean almost immediately after he began to build it. And the lean kept increasing through the centuries, a tourist bonanza for Pisa, that would end if the tower leaned too far and fell.This picture was taken in 1994, prior to a major engineering effort to stabilize the tower and reduce the lean by 10%. The tower was also closed to visitors. I had climbed it back in 1986, great fun, but disorienting.

Returning to Pisa in 2001, I wanted to help the tower by any means necessary; lending a hand, or at least a few fingers. The lean does appear less than in the picture above taken seven years earlier.

The lean remains apparent from the tower's base. In 2001, there were counterweights and cables to the left of the base trying to assert some control. The project was declared a success, and the Leaning Tower opened to visitors again.

The Duomo (cathedral) on the left does not lean and sets the standard for vertical in Pisa. It's bell tower provides a stark contrast in this 1994 picture.

If you have a high speed internet connection, watch the Intrepid Berkeley Explorer's free video that is 100% Italy, by clicking on Gondola With the Wind 2 ; also see Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice by clicking on the earlier Gondola With the Wind